


what it looks like from the outside

by kingdra (aroceu)



Series: July 2017 Advent Calendar [5]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 00:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11451813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroceu/pseuds/kingdra
Summary: And the feeling is still there, except Shintarou's now eighteen, not fourteen, and Kise's suddenly vying to see him every day.





	what it looks like from the outside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [despereaux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/despereaux/gifts).



Shintarou finds out that Kise's attending the same university after the first week classes, when he's getting lunch in a cafe and the door rings open. Shintarou's eyes drift as they habitually do, self-conscious of his surroundings, but he does a double take when he sees a familiar figure sauntering in, scoping out the place.   
  
Their eyes meet at the same time. Shintarou's heart does that extra thump it's been doing since middle school, since Shintarou's tried to tell himself to ignore it - Kise comes over to his table and says, "Look at this familiar face!"  
  
"Kise," Shintarou says, inclining his head from where he's doing homework. "What are you doing in the city?"  
  
"I go to school here," Kise says cheerfully, sitting with Shintarou without even asking.   
  
Shintarou closes his book and frowns. "You don't happen to go to Tokyo's University of Science - "  
  
"Oh, do you go too?" Kise asks. "Yeah, I decided kind of last minute."  
  
"You didn't say anything." Shintarou remembers the last time they played together, against that American team, wrapped up in a group hug that Shintarou hadn't terribly minded. They'd talked about their futures with the others - and Shintarou wants to play basketball, but he wants to do more - but while Shintarou and Akashi had discussed what universities they were going to and Aomine said he wasn't and Kuroko was going somewhere to the countryside and Murasakibara was going down to Osaka, Kise hadn't really talked about what he wanted at all.   
  
"Like I said," Kise says, shrugging. "Last minute." He looks brightly at Shintarou. "But we're here now, though - look at us, old friends catching up together."  
  
"Yeah," Shintarou says, trying to ignore his heart rising in his throat.   
  
They go through lunch and Shintarou pretends it's a date even though he knows it's not, because Kise still laughs about the same shit and calls him  _Midorimacchi_  and it's still the same as middle school, as just a couple of weeks ago during golden week. Shintarou tries not to stare too long whenever Kise grins at him, while Kise eats and Shintarou's already done, doesn't want to leave because it's like he hasn't seen Kise for a lifetime.   
  
Their lunch ends though and Kise says, "I have a class," and Shintarou doesn't trust himself in any longer proximity with him, so he doesn't offer to walk him back.   
  
"Okay," Shintarou says, and packs his books up. He can always study in his room, even though studying feels suddenly unappealing now.   
  
Kise says, "I'll text you."  
  
Shintarou scoffs, rolls his eyes even though every nerve ending in his body is looking forward to anything from Kise. "Don't text me too much," he says to Kise, starting to leave.   
  
"I'll try not to," Kise says. Shintarou hopes he breaks that promise.   
  
*  
  
So Kise is a part of Shintarou's life again, and it's like -   
  
When they broke off into high schools, it was easy to forget that middle school didn't happen. That there was a challenge, a team that he cared for, that he couldn't replace with the Generation of Miracles, so they were called. It was also easy to forget the way Shintarou always looked to meet Kise's eyes when they were in school together, on the same side of the court, and the twist in the chest that always gave him.   
  
And the feeling is still there, except Shintarou's now eighteen, not fourteen, and Kise's suddenly vying to see him every day. Whether it's breakfast or lunch or dinner, or taking the train together to classes, Kise somehow always finding him - there's suddenly a space in Shintarou's life the shape of Kise, because Kise does break his promise and starts texting him all the time.   
  
"Don't you have other friends?" Shintarou asks, one time when Kise finds him on the train and stands next to him cheerfully.   
  
Kise laughs. "Are you tired of me already?" he asks lightly, but Shintarou knows how to read him - there's a real question in there somewhere, too.   
  
"I'm not," Shintarou tells him. "But I worry if I'm your main source of company these days - "  
  
"What's wrong with that? You're fun to be around." Kise kicks the side of Shintarou's foot like they're the type of people to do that. Shintarou gives him a flat look.  
  
"I think we ought to be doing more productive things together, like studying," he tells Kise, because that's sure to get Kise to say -   
  
"Is studying the most fun thing you can think of?" And when Shintarou refuses to dignify that with an answer - because he  _can_  think of better things, but Kise doesn't expect him to say otherwise - Kise says, "We can do lots of things together Midorimacchi, not just productive things."  
  
Shintarou doesn't know how to respond other than with the honest truth. "Okay," he says, because any time with Kise is productive in its own right.  
  
Kise goes wide-eyed, and dramatically says, "Did you just say  _okay_  to me?" he says. "Are we going to do things like karaoke and nightclubs?"  
  
"God," Shintarou says to himself, but supposes he has no other option. There is no other option - there's Kise grinning at him behind his sweater while they sit on the subway, and Shintarou will take every moment with him, even if it's something as inane as karaoke and nightclubs. "You're not making me sing, though," he says to Kise, whose eyes crinkle.  
  
*  
  
Shintarou seriously wonders if Kise is lonely, with the way that Kise keeps texting him - whether he's bored in class, or asking if Shintarou wants to hang out, grab a meal, go out, look for  _groceries_  of all things - it's like the three years of radio silence in high school never happened, except it's never been just the two of them until now.  
  
Shintarou goes up to visit Akashi one weekend, and when they're trading stories about school, Shintarou brings it up.  
  
"By the way, Kise's attending my school," he says to Akashi.  
  
"Is he?" Akashi says. "He asked - never mind. Do you see each other often?"  
  
"Extremely often," Shintarou says, furrowing his eyebrows. They're playing Go in Akashi's apartment; as if there were any other choice for them. "It's a bit strange."  
  
Akashi inclines his head. "A bad strange?"  
  
"Not a bad... it's Kise," Shintarou sighs, and moves one of his Go pieces. "I don't mind, really - at all," he adds, when Akashi continues to give him a strange look. "I really don't mind. I was just thinking - maybe he doesn't have other friends."  
  
"It's Kise," Akashi says, moving his own piece. "He has a lot of friends, it's always easy for him - "  
  
"But he's with  _me_  all the time." Shintarou thinks - he  _has_  seen Kise talking to some people before when they pass each other on the street, and Kise doesn't notice him because Shintarou always does him, but Shintarou won't say anything. He doesn't even know if those people are Kise's friends, because Kise's not getting dinner with  _them_ , not hanging out with  _them_  on the weekends.   
  
Akashi looks strangely amused. "Are you worried about him?"  
  
"Confused," Shintarou clarifies. "He's got no reason to spend time with me."  
  
Akashi is silent as he moves another piece.  
  
*  
  
Kise does take them to a nightclub, eventually, to Shintarou's dismay. It's one on a corner, where a lot of their classmates frequent apparently, according to Kise who's heard around. "See, I do have other friends," he says to Shintarou pointedly, who rolls his eyes because Kise knowing talk between their classmates doesn't really mean anything.  
  
But Kise greets some people in the nightclub and Shintarou's stomach lurches jealously. He remembers all the gaps, suddenly, when Kise isn't there and Shintarou is studying, alone. All that time that Kise would be with other people, his other friends, and - Shintarou doesn't  _mind_  it, but time with Kise doesn't feel like enough, like when Kise goes over to order drinks and the bartender doesn't ask for their ages.  
  
"Hey, what're you thinking about?" Kise asks him, coming back.  
  
Shintarou blinks at him, and downturns his mouth. "Studying," he says.  
  
"Studying? Here?" Kise throws his head back and laughs. Shintarou tries not to stare at the line of his neck. "Come on, Midoramicchi, what happened to your promise earlier about having fun?"  
  
"Ugh," Shintarou says, but he allows Kise a smile and downs the drink Kise had gotten him, crinkling his nose in the process. It's strong; Kise cheers.  
  
"That's what I was looking for," he says, before taking a sip of his drink.  
  
Shintarou doesn't warn him when Kise makes a face of his own. "It's strong, isn't it," Shintarou says, while Kise complains. "Do you really expect us to have fun on this?"  
  
Kise lifts his glass with bravado despite the sickened look on his face. "We will," he says determinedly.  
  
They drink more, talking about classes and their friends and the people in here. Shintarou says, "I'm supposed to have a lucky day today."  
  
"Oh?" Kise laughs and examines Shintarou's body. "What's your lucky item, then?"  
  
Shintarou raises a plush in the shape of an American hamburger. Kise claps delightedly and says, "That's cute! Do you know if I'm supposed to have a lucky day today?"  
  
"Geminis are supposed to let loose and be free." Shintarou gazes disdainfully around the nightclub, and says, "I suppose you're doing that. Here."  
  
"I'm just following the stars, Midorimacchi," Kise says seriously. "That's what they told me to do."  
  
Shintarou wonders if the stars also told Kise to spend all his time with him, if Shintarou should be thankful for that. And Shintarou is, in his irrational mind - but it's still bizarre, outside of that they were classmates and teammates once, and that suddenly means that Kise has taken to be with Shintarou more than usual.  
  
If there is a usual.  
  
They drink more, talking until it's late and Shintarou, though tipsy, says that they should go home. Kise says, "Not yet," so Shintarou gives him fifteen minutes before hauling him off his chair, swinging Kise's arm around him and saying, "Let's go."  
  
"Midorimacchi," Kise says, poking Shintarou's cheek with the hand that's around Shintarou's neck. "Do you like spending time with me? Am I annoying you?"  
  
"I already told you before that you're not," Shintarou says. His mouth is faster than his brain, but he's not sure if Kise will remember any of this in the morning, so it might not matter. "You're not - I would tell you if you were - "  
  
"Okay," Kise says. "Because I really - sometimes you realize things and you feel like it's too late, until - "  
  
"Until what?" Shintarou asks.  
  
But Kise doesn't answer. He's soberly quiet on their walk home, and only says goodnight when they stop at his door.  
  
*  
  
Shintarou's the one who finds the basketball court, outdoor on a far corner of campus when he's taking a detour from one of his classes. He texts Kise about it, who immediately says that they need to play together again, and that kick in Shintarou's chest is half the excitement that always comes with playing basketball, and playing it with  _Kise_.  
  
They go during the evening, because Kise has a night class today and Shintarou doesn't mind playing in the dark. His horoscope says the unexpected will come today, and Shintarou doesn't know if that's good or bad so he's been carrying a broken pencil with him all day. He meets with Kise outside of his dorm, and then they walk to the basketball court together.  
  
"Ah, I've missed playing," Kise says.  
  
"It's only been a few months," Shintarou tells him. He'd brought the ball; he hands it off to Kise who bounces it on the sidewalk as they walk.   
  
"Well, I still miss it! Maybe I'll join the intramural team," Kise muses. "Have you thought about it?"  
  
Honestly, Shintarou has, but as much as he took basketball seriously - with his life stretching out before him, it suddenly feels very irrelevant. "I've had the thought," he says truthfully to Kise.  
  
Kise nudges him. "We should join it together. They may be in awe of us, so we'll have to do our best to be modest."  
  
"We don't have to be modest, we were playing at their level in middle school."  
  
"I hope that means we really are joining together," Kise says cheekily.  
  
When they're on the basketball court, Kise passes the ball to Shintarou, who passes it back, getting their dribbles in. "Let's play one on one," Shintarou says. "First to score a point - "  
  
" _One_  point?" Kise says incredulously.  
  
The moon shines onto him, washing white light over the court, over Kise who's bright like a white dwarf star and Shintarou wants to grasp at him, keep him for his own. Shintarou tries to focus, looks to the side and says, "We're both stellar players, we can play to the one point." Shintarou's also partially not sure how he would be around prolonged contact with Kise and no one else.  
  
Kise starts, and Shintarou steals and shoots from the three point line to the other side of the court. Kise laughs and says, "Hey, that was too easy for you," but the next time when Shintarou starts, Kise does the exact same thing - living up to his skill.  
  
They play to the one point dozens of times, continuing through the night that Shintarou stops counting. The moon is still bright in the sky, and, panting, Kise calls, "We should take a break." Shintarou nods in agreement, and Kise passes the ball over to him, stretching his arms behind his forehead and looking up to the sky.  
  
He says, not meeting Shintarou's eyes, "I don't think I could tire of being with you. I'm not sure if you - " he chuckles and ducks his head down. "You're Midorimacchi, and - "  
  
"What do you mean?" Shintarou asks, head buzzing.  
  
"I can never tell what you're thinking," Kise says to him, turning this time to look at him. "If you like being with me or not, why you always say yes, if it's not basketball like this - "  
  
"I say yes, because," Shintarou says, and then bites his lip. Kise's expression is open, and Shintarou's heart skips and he can't finish what he's saying.  
  
Something flickers on Kise's face, and he says, "Midorima." He's getting closer to Shintarou, who feels frozen. They're a meter apart, a foot apart, still breathing heavily from the some hours of basketball, in the night when everyone's asleep and not practicing like them. Shintarou tells himself that he's going to join the intramural team, to ground himself, as Kise gets closer and cups his hand around Shintarou's, brings Shintarou's hand to Kise's cheek.  
  
Shintarou swallows. Kise says, "Is this okay?" and Shintarou doesn't say anything, only leans forward and closes the space between them.  
  
Shintarou says, "I do like being with you, idiot. That's why I don't say no." Their mouths are still inclined together, and Kise's laugh comes out in puffs into Shintarou's mouth.  
  
"You're the idiot, you need to say no to me sometime," he says. "Keep me guessing."  
  
"You already do that for me," Shintarou tells him, and Kise grins. The skip in Shintarou's chest evens over, feels right as Shintarou kisses him again, as they go back to basketball, Kise grinning at him and brighter than the moon. The space between their bodies doesn't feel as wrong when they play, shoulders bumping, or as when they walk back together, wrists brushing. Shintarou doesn't know if this is what's unexpected today - but anything with Kise, kissing him, pressing against him, being with him - is unpredictable.


End file.
